St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-06-05

ming into the reom above, where the
hooperS. are atwork finishing up the bar
relS. On this belt are long IRON arms
which catch our barrel and convey it
swiftly into the room above, where a
hooper takes it and carries it to his
bench. Here he places it on one end, !,
and selecting a hoop of hickory, trims
it, and after cutting a notch on each
end, places it around the top of the
upper end of the barrel. and fastens it
in place. This operation is repeated
until there are three hoops on each end,
and one or two, as the case may be, in
the center. Then the iron hoops and
the big wooden hoop is knocked off, and
the b rrel is ready to go out in the
world, tribute to the skill of the man
who made the machinery it passed
through and the men who handle the
machinery.
COOPER STOCK.
The stock used in manufacturing bar
relS does not come from Minnesota but
from other states. All or nearly all the
the heads. They come fully prepared
and put up in huge bundles, all ready
for the coOperS. The elm slaves are
from Michigan and Ohio. The hoop
poles come from Wisconsin also, what
few are used, but the shaved hoops,
which have been gradually coming into
use the past few years, come mainly
from Missouri and cost about 215 or 8
cents.
The wages of the coopers are not as
large as many would suppose, ranging
from IS to sls per week, but, there are
more men who receive under So than
over it. Under the new arrange
ment the weekly wages will aver
age $40 the year round. This
seems small amount of money for a
man to support a family one, and bring
his children, yet that it can be done is
an actual fact, as nearly all the cooperS
in Minneapolis are married men and
have families. One thing in their favor
is that nearly all own their own homes
modest cottages. situated far from the
center OF the city-but still homes.
None of the homes are furnished as
elegantly, perhaps, as some of the resi-
denceS out on Hennepin avenue, but it
is the exception when one is not neat
and cosy. A GLOBE reporter paid
visit to one of them recently, and found
there cottage as neatly furnished as
any ordinary man could desire. The
house stood back several rods from the
street, and in the front yard were four
small flower beds, made and cared for
by the cooper himself during his leisure
moments. A pleasant looking young
woman holding small child in her
arms and another by the hand. came
to the door in response to knock and
invited the visitor into the small parlor.
The room presented neat appearance,
and was Ornamented with many little
trifie made by loving woman's hands,
The carpet was pretty but inexpensive,
and four or five books lying on a small
center table showed that the owner was
not devoid of literary taste. Thus it was
all through the houSe-everything neat
and clean, and showing care and atten-
ton. There were no evidences of pov-
erty, but it was evident that money was
not as plentiful in the house as it might
be. But this bright picture is not to
be found in the home of every cooper
Some of the men have had ''hard
times" and their homes are not enjoy
able by any means. Compelled to care
fully watch every penny, and scrimp
everywhere, the lot of a cooper was not
a happy one. The new agreement is
hailed with delight by the men, and
while the sum paid weekly to each man
is not large it is sufficient to support his
family and lay by trifle far a rainy
day, when work is slack or hammer or
knife slips and bruises or cuts limb.